(In continuation of our focus on the Governors of the 36 states of Nigeria, today the pendulum swings to Osun State, or rather, to the State of Osun. Do not ask, what is the difference? Just keep browsing)
Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who was born on 25 May 1957, ran for governor of The State of Osun. (Here, it will be recalled that the government of Mr. Rauf Aregbesola changed the name – Osun State to The State of Osun, when he came into office). Although the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, was declared the winner of the contest, Mr. Aregbesola appealed the decision and on the 26th of November 2010, he was declared the winner.
Mr. Aregbesola made waves as an indefatigable activist for various causes. He was the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure for Lagos state, when he ran for election in April 2007 on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria. In May 2008, Mr. Aregbesola called over 100 witnesses and tendered 168 exhibits in his petition before the Election Petitions Tribunal, alleging violence and ballot boxes stuffing in the election. In his well circulated interview in October 2008, he described Governor Oyinlola as “a bully who came from a reactionary military arm”, stating that the man had done nothing for the people of Osun state. He also claimed that 12 people had died in the election violence.
In August 2009, the police arrested Mr. Aregbesola, apparently for involvement in the alleged forgery of a police report on the conduct of the elections. Later that month, he sought bail so that he could perform the lesser Hajj in Saudi Arabia. In August 2010, the police summoned him to make a statement about the bomb explosion of 14 June 2007 near the Ministry of Water Resources. But Mr. Aregbesola denied any involvement in the incident, stating that he was in Abuja at the time.
Justices of the Federal Appeal Court, Ibadan, finally declared Mr. Aregbesola the winner of the 2007 election, ordering that he be sworn in as governor by noon on 27 November, 2010. Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, was on Saturday, 12 April 2014, endorsed as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the state’s gubernatorial election slated for the 9th of August 2014. The emergence of Mr. Aregbesola was preceded by congresses held before the governor, who had no opponents, was endorsed as the party flag bearer in the governorship election. The committee headed by Nasir el-Rufai supervised the primary election in which Mr. Aregbesola was endorsed. While giving the governor the certificate of return, Mr. El-Rufai said 269,631 members of the party voted for the governor to have a second term out of the 355,390 members who registered in 332 wards across the state. He contested against Senator Iyiola Omisore of the People’s Democratic Party and Willy Akinbade of the Labour Party. Governor Aregbesola was declared the winner of the August 9th 2014 election and returned elected for another term of 4 years.
Mr. Aregbesola’s interest in politics dates back to his undergraduate days, when he served as the Speaker of the Students’ Union Parliament at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, his alma mater. This interest, which is anchored in values, again came to the fore during Nigeria’s bloody struggles against military rule in the 1990s when he emerged as a leading light of the pro-democracy movement. It continues to manifest today in his advocacy for fiscal federalism and regional integration as a means of attaining sustainable economic development and peaceful coexistence in the Nigerian federation.
As Governor of the state of Osun, he has focused on strengthening the state in the areas of agriculture, economic development, youth employment, education and security. His bold vision for the State is encapsulated in his Six-point Integral Action Plan (1. Banish poverty; 2. Banish hunger; 3. Banish unemployment; 4. Restore healthy living; 5. Promote functional education; 6. Enhance communal peace and progress) which seeks to ensure that the fruits of economic development positively impact as many lives as possible.
On assumption of office, he made it known quickly that his administration would be government ‘unusual’. This ‘unusualness’ and innovation in governance and economic development in the State of Osun had seen to the creation of 20, 000 jobs within 100 days and the revolution in education and the agriculture sub-sector of the economy as well as other popular socio-economic and people-friendly programs.
Governor Aregbesola is a rising star in the Nigerian political firmament whose views have become increasingly relevant in the search for a peaceful resolution of the Nigerian crisis of statehood and nationhood. A man of Spartan disposition to material possessions, he continues to stand in the vanguard of Nigeria’s quest for leadership that would deliver life in abundance to the common people.
